Zen: What is Enlightenment?

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

Considering most of us are probably more busy and stressed than we like to admit, simple truths like the Zen story above can really make you think.  There can be much more derived from those two sentences than simply eating and sleeping.  The master in his simple statement is telling his student to face reality.

Facing reality gives us a  starting point to solve our most pressing problems.  It may not be easy or fun, especially when the reality is painful.  Admissions of being penniless, fat, depressed, in a bad relationship or failing at business can be grueling self-admissions.  But the alternative is worse.  Self-denial never helps anyone because it allows the bad situation to continue.  Who knows how many days, months or years could be wasted by not admitting to the truth.

Admit to the reality.  That is your starting point.  When you have a starting point, you then have some place to go.

So as your Zen master of the day, I’ll give some answers:
"When poor, work."
"When fat, walk"
"When depressed, do"
"When in a bad relationship, discuss"
"When failing in business, count"

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